Azumanga's Ninja Adventure
by Hwikek
Summary: A young girl finds herself struggling to become one of the elite warriors of her village.
1. The Start

Ten years ago a village inhabited by ninja was attacked by the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. The great beast proved to be extremely powerful. Multitudes of ninjas were consumed by its awesome power. In the end only the most powerful ninja in their section of the world was able to stop its assualt, but to do so he was forced to sacrifice his own life. The monster was imprisoned inside of the body of a young child, who would then become the subject of ridicule and distrust. Unfortunately, no one was really quite sure which child the fox had been sealed inside of, since no one had really been able to hang around when the monstrously powerful fox and the most powerful person they had on hand had been fighting each other, destroying mountains and forests with each of their blows. But when the people who lived in the village thought about it, the answer to who contained the Demon Fox was pretty clear.

"Yo, yo!"

"Oh great, what does she want now?"

"So," said Tomo, "whatcha doin'?"

"Practicing for that exam," said Yomi, "it's tomorrow remember?"

"How are you practicing?"

"I'm busy right now okay?"

"That's not very polite," said Tomo.

"It's also not very polite to interrupt someone when they're trying to study Tomo."

"I guess you're right," said Tomo. The Wildcat walked away from her friend's house. _What am I supposed to do now?_

"Hey Tomo, what are you doing out and about today?"

"Yo," Tomo waved at her other friend, "Sup?"

"Shouldn't you be studying?" her buddy asked her.

"Shouldn't you?"

"Yeah you're right! Thanks for reminding me!" The girl waved goodbye.

_Oh great_, thought Tomo, _now what am I gonna do?_

"Hello Tomo."

_Not her!_

"I just wanted to wish you the best of luck for tomorrow's test."

"Okay thanks." Tomo watched as the girl walked away. _I just can't stand her_, thought Tomo, _she's so sweet, polite, not to mention friendly. That's not the problem though, she's better than me at everything! Stupid Chiyo._

The day of the test came and went. Tomo was surprised to find that the only person who didn't pass was the person everyone swore was the best out of all of them. Then again he hadn't really done anything other than stand there during all of the lessons. She had just assumed that he was good enough already. Well actually she had yet to take her own test, and she was hoping not to fail.

"Okay, you didn't pass."

"Wh-why not?" asked a panicked Tomo.

"Because you're not good enough. Now get out of my sight there are a lot of tests left to do."

Tomo slunk to the door, she felt something she hadn't before, dissapointment.

"Now, now," said one of the instructors, "you shouldn't talk to her like that."

"Fine, fine," said the man, "but we need to get these tests done today you know."

"Hey Tomo," said the instructor, "Why don't you meet me here after all of the testing is over? There's something that I want to tell you."

"Oh what?" screamed a man, "How did this happen, why is it gone?"

"Who was in charge of guarding the Forbidden to Outsiders scroll?"

"Well you see the thing is, no one was assigned to look after it. I guess we kinda messed up there hu—"

"Why is that?"

"Um..."

"Dear god, who put you idiots in charge?"

"Uh, we don't remember..."

"Let's just hope that someone can find that scroll, otherwise the setting for this story could be destroyed forever!"

"Hmm," said Tomo, "isn't it strange that someone who failed the ninja graduation test could sneak in and take a scroll rumored to contain forbidden knowledge? Wait a minute doesn't that mean that I should have passed?" Tomo grumbled to herself as she arrived at a discrete hut in the middle of a dark forest.

"Excellent, you finally arrived," said the instructor, "now give me the scroll."

"I thought you said that I needed to use one of the jutsus on the scroll to graduate."

"Just give me the damn thing already." Tomo rolled her ten year old eyes as she gave the document to the man. "Heh, heh, like taking candy from a baby."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tomo, "How am I gonna graduate?"

"You idiot," said the instructor, "why would learning how to do _forbidden_ jutsu be a way to graduate from the academy? Didn't that thought ever cross your mind?"

"But then why would you ask me to take it?"

"Can't you use your brain for just a moment? If I told you why I actually wanted the scroll you never would have got it for me. I'm still not going to tell you why I need this scroll."

"You were just trying to frame me!"

"It's not framing because you actually took it!" The former instructor shook his head in disgust. "How could you have ever hoped to become a ninja if you couldn't even see through an obvious lie?"

Tomo growled in anger as someone walked up behind her. "I'm sorry," said Tomo, "I didn't know that taking the sacred and secret scroll was wrong."

The new arrival merely facepalmed in response.

"Well, well," said the traitorus instructor, "if it isn't the person who has the closest emotional bond to Tomo. You can't make this stuff up."

"How did you find me?" asked Tomo.

"Well, I was asleep nearby and just happened to over hear you two talking."

"Now it's time for me to leave," said the traitor, "no reason to stick around and risk being captured."

"You have to tell us what's going on," said the person close to Tomo.

"You can't escape anyways, there's probably an AMBU Black Ops team coming hear right now."

"Oh please," said the traitor, "if Tomo could sneak in and steal the scroll hidden in the building that's guarded by elite ninjas, why wouldn't I be able to get away from anything this little hamlet can muster?"

"Actually no one was guarding it," said Tomo, "in fact I went in through the front door."

"Really?" The traitor was shocked. "I didn't go myself because I feared that I might be caught!"

"So you sent Tomo? Someone who failed the graduation test instead?"

The traitor realized how ridiculous his plan had been. "Who cares?" asked the traitor, "in the end my plan worked flawlessly."

"Not really," said the person with a connection to Tomo, "while we were busy talking, Tomo snuck up from behind and took the scroll from you."

"What?" The traitor looked to see Tomo holding the scroll and sticking her tongue out at him. "So what," said the traitor, "I can easily defeat a ten year old girl—"

"She also stuck a grenade in your backpack."

"What's a grenade?" Then the traitor facepalmed as he realized that a pomegranate had been placed on top of his backpack. "Why do you two mess around so much?"

"We're two of a kind," said the person, with Tomo standing nearby.

The man merely sighed as he pulled a pistol out of his belt.

"Darn it," said Tomo's friend, "I left mine back at the station!"

Whoops wrong fanfic! Just forget that last bit okay?

The traitor sighed as he threw a small, sharp, metal weapon into the stomach of the person connected to Tomo.

A hand gripped the kunai knife as the traitor ripped it out of the stomach of an injured person. "So much for the ninjas of the village which is focused on in this series."

"You mean the village of Mount Ninja!" screamed an angry Tomo. "How dare you hurt my teacher, and my friend!"

"Mount Ninja," said the traitor, "that's such a stupid name."

"Shut up!" screamed Tomo as she planted her foot in between his legs. Tomo slammed her fist into the man's face, knocking him onto the ground. "If you ever hurt my friend again, I'll—ugh!" The traitor slammed his foot into the girl's face.

"I'm a real ninja," said the traitor, "you're just a kid who uses cheap tricks. You could never hope to fight someone of my caliber."

"She doesn't have to."

"What the—huagh!" A kunai knife slammed straight into the traitor's eye. He gave a gurgling sound before falling to the ground dead. Tomo couldn't see who had killed the traitor, but whoever it was had to be pretty badass.

"Are you okay?" Tomo asked her friend.

"I'll be okay, just as long as we get some medical aid."

"Does this mean that I'm a ninja now?"

"What? Hell no!"

"But I can make shadow clones!"

"Since when?"

"I peaked at the secret scroll and mastered the art in ten seconds."

"Some secret scroll, I mean a kid who failed the basic exam figured out how to do one of the hidden techniques on it!"

"That's not very nice," said Tomo.


	2. Their Teacher

"Oh yeah," said Tomo, "I'm glad that Yukari finally agreed to make me a ninja once I showed her that I really could make shadow clones and wasn't merely making it up."

_"Well, well," Yukari had told Tomo, her stomach bandaged up, "I guess you really can make shadow clones." _

_"Heck yeah I can!" said an excited Tomo, "so am I a ninja now?" _

_"Yes," said Yukari, "Remember each shadow clone is a flesh and blood copy of yourself, even though they don't ever bleed and dissapear into a puff of smoke when hit."_

Tomo looked at her buddies who were gathered in the room.

"Hey, hey," said Kagura, "I thought you failed the test. Good to see that was just a rumor."

"Yeah," said Tomo, "that was just a rumor, why not?" Tomo noticed that her other friends were also happy to see her pass, even Yomi. Sitting down at the first open spot she could find, Tomo accidentally sat down next to Chiyo, her secret rival.

"Hi Tomo," said Chiyo, "I see you passed the graduation exam." Tomo growled at Chiyo. "Don't growl at me," said Chiyo.

_Oops_, thought Tomo, _I thought I was only saying that in my head_.

"Okay," said Yukari, "You're now all officially n00bs." Gasps rose from the students. "Don't worry, you won't be n00bs forever, unless of course you suck then you will be. Anyways you're all going to be asigned into groups, which will be determined based upon brain power, not that all of you have that." Tomo, Osaka, and Kagura grumbled in anger. "Then you'll be given instructors, who are all highly skilled ninjas, elite ninjas if you will."

Yukari then began to name the groups. Tomo growled when Chiyo was placed on her team. _At least I'll have one friend_, thought Tomo.

"Wow," said Kagura, "who would have thought that we'd be on the same team, eh Tomo?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tomo whined, "but when do we get to meet our cool instructors?"

"They are your masters," said Yukari, "you will follow their orders, and if you're lucky you will become elite ninjas as well."

"So when do we get to meet them?" Tomo whined.

"I don't know, stop asking me!"

"Okay," Tomo pouted.

"I wonder what our instructor will be like," said Kagura.

"Hopefully it's someone super cool," said Tomo.

"Hopefully it's someone who can teach us how to be great," said Chiyo.

"I just hope that our instructor isn't a weirdo like that one kid who's failed to pass the graduation exam twice now. They say he tries to sneek into the girls' bath area."

"Why do we have communal bath houses anyways?" asked Tomo.

"I don't know," said Kagura, "I mean I bathe at home anyways."

"And what kind of people send kids out to fight and stuff?" asked Tomo.

"We don't send little kids off to fight."

Tomo turned towards the source of the sound. _I've heard that voice before!_ She remembered hearing the voice the night before, right before a knife shoved its way through a traitor's eye into his brain.

"My name is Sakaki," said the woman, "I am your master, and you are now my students."

"So what are we gonna do?" asked Tomo.

"We're going to test you three," said Sakaki, "and we'll get it done today."

Tomo found herself hanging upside down from a tree branch. _Patience_, thought Tomo, _all we have to do is take one of the three pins on her sleeve. Now if only I remembered the plan... _

_It won't matter_.

Tomo fell off of the branch. She had just heard a voice in her head. The grassy soil didn't do much to comfort her fall. She looked around. _I could have sworn that I just heard Sakaki— _

_I see you_.

Tomo looked around to try and find Sakaki. There were only trees and rocks and...fire? Tomo noticed the fire heading towards a nearby strand of trees. _Oh no_, thought Tomo, _It's heading straight for Kagura and Chiyo!_ Tomo ran towards the trees as they started to catch on fire. "Get out of there!" screamed the Wildcat. The forest began to crackle and pop as screams filled the young girl's ears. Tomo felt tears drip down her cheeks. A figure stumbled out of the burning forest. _Kagura_. Tomo rushed over to the burning shape as it fell to the ground.

"No," Tomo whispered, "I can't, I can't—"

Tomo noticed that she was standing in front of Sakaki, but she felt something on her shoulder. The Wildcat turned to see Chiyo's hand on her shoulder.

"You need to be more careful Tomo," said Chiyo, "You looked master Sakaki in the eyes, and fell under the power of her genjutsu."

"Genjutsu?"

"It has many different forms," said Sakaki, "that was a type of illusion, in your mind Tomo. Luckily for you Chiyo was able to break the genjutsu, but to be honest it was a weak version of the illusions I can create."

"We'll get those pins from you yet!" yelled Tomo.

She shoved a kunai knife into Sakaki. Tomo's mouth opened in shock as the knife pierced her master's chest. Sakaki gave Tomo a wink as she vanished into a puff of smoke.

"Tomo," Chiyo grumbled, "didn't you see that that Sakaki didn't actually have the pins in her sleeve?"

"Whoops, I guess I messed up."

"It doesn't matter," said Chiyo, "but now we need to come up with a new plan."

"Okay," said Tomo, "Kagura! Get your butt over here!"

A fist slammed into Tomo's face. She hit the ground with a thud. Growling the Wildcat shoved her head into Kagura's stomach.

"Ergh!" Tomo groaned as Kagura slammed her knee into the Wildcat's stomach, and landed a haymaker into her back. Tomo collapsed onto the ground.

"What was that about?" yelled Tomo.

"You guys," said Chiyo, "if we don't work together, we'll never get those pins from Sakaki!"

Tomo pulled her hand out of Kagura's mouth and Kagura let go of Tomo's hair. The two of them looked down at the ground, dissapointed in themselves.

"Don't just stand there," said Chiyo face palming, "we need to come up with a plan!"

"Two of us will distract Sakaki, while one of us takes the pins from her," said Tomo.

"That was the plan we came up with before," said Chiyo, "but let's give it a shot."

"Well," said Sakaki, "Do you two really think that you can take the pins away from me?"

"Of course we can!" yelled Kagura, "Chiyo and I can take those pins from you!"

Tomo slunk from the tree towards Sakaki. _Oh man_, thought Tomo, _I'm gonna take those pins from her because I'm the stealthiest!_

A wall of flames sprung up between Tomo and Sakaki's back. The young girl watched as giant flames crackled in front of her. Tomo looked at the swirling pattern in front of her, completely impenetrable.

_This must be one of Sakaki's unique abilities_, thought Tomo, _no wonder she's one of the elite ninjas of the village_. Something seemed strange about the fire. _That's it_, thought Tomo, _time to put the plan into action!_

"Oh wow," said Kagura, "Sakaki can create flames?"

Chiyo shook her head from side to side. She knew that it was merely an illusion, why didn't Kagura—

"You almost got one."

Chiyo was shocked to see Kagura lying on the ground in front of their master.

_Good_, thought Chiyo, _she's distracting our master, now Tomo can—_

Chiyo watched as Tomo leapt through the imaginary flames. _Yes. She's going to get the—_ Chiyo watched as Sakaki side stepped out of the way. The pink haired girl watched as Tomo flew straight into Kagura. The two lay on the ground. Chiyo facepalmed. Kagura tried to push Tomo off, but her friend dissapeared into a cloud of smoke.

_No_, thought Chiyo, _Tomo knows how to create shadow clones?_

Sakaki felt something pull on her right arm. _How surprising_, she thought, _I was never aware that Tomo knew a technique like that_. She felt something grab her left arm. _Hm, I guess the test is over_. She heard the fabric on her arm rip. _They're much better than I thought. Especially Chiyo. I guess all of that praise Yukari gave her wasn't misplaced_. She watched as Chiyo held a green slip of cloth in her hands. Three bright twinkles of light met Sakaki's eyes. _I just wish it had taken a little longer. I wanted to do so much more_.

"Yeah," said Tomo, "we passed your stupid test! Now we're really getting somewhere!"

"Be quiet," said Kagura, "don't make Sakaki mad or anything."

"That's master Sakaki, or did you already forget?"

"Sorry master," said Kagura bowing in respect.

"What now?" asked Tomo, "when are we gonna do cool stuff? I mean all we had to do was take some pins from you, what's so special about that?"

"Now you get to go on missions," said Sakaki.

"What kind of missions?"

"You'll see," said Sakaki.


	3. The Threat and the Unexpected

"Oh yeah," said Tomo, "Check this out!"

On Tomo's right arm a band of cloth with a metal patch was securely fastened to her sleeve. For some reason Tomo had written on it.

_Wait_, thought Kagura, _does that thing say badass mother—_

"Tomo," said Sakaki, "where did you learn to say things like that?"

"I just kinda picked up on it," said Tomo, "I mean I hung around Yukari a lot and she says a bunch of stuff."

Sakaki sighed, "I should have known. Anyways we have important work to do."

"Important work? All we've done is catch runaway pets and pull weeds!"

"Patience Tomo," said Sakaki, "it's not going to be this way forever."

"Why are we catching stray cats anyways? Can't they send someone else to do this? Someone that's not us?"

"So you want to be ordered to do a mission that's more dangerous?" asked Sakaki, "And just what makes you think that we'd really be so irresponsible as to send ten year old children into a world filled with robbers, thieves, and murderers?"

"Gee master Sakaki," said Kagura, "when you put it that way it makes a whole lot more sense."

"Thank you Kagura," said Sakaki, "But I have a feeling that someone is going to continue to complain about weeding gardens, and having to find someone's pet frog. But then again she isn't ready to go on a real mission. She'd die."

Tomo gasped.

"To be honest, all three of you would probably be killed if you were confronted by an enemy ninja. I've seen plenty of young greenhorns bite off more than they can chew, forcing me to save them—if I could."

Tomo shivered slightly. _Could she really be telling the truth about that?_ Tomo felt her stomach begin constrict.

"Now if you're done complaining, it's time for lunch."

Tomo sulked about as she ate her lunch slowly.

"Hey," said Kagura, "what's up?"

"She's upset about what Sakaki told her," said Chiyo.

"Oh," said Kagura, "that makes sense."

"I just can't take it anymore!" Tomo dramatically through her sandwich onto the ground. Chiyo rolled her eyes at the sudden, childish outburst. "Where does she come off being so high and mighty?"

"You do know who Sakaki is don't you?" asked Chiyo, "She has quite the reputation."

"But it was so easy to take those pins from her!"

"Tomo," said a frustrated Chiyo, her eyes closed, "if she had really wanted to, don't you think she could have kept those pins away from three ten year old girls?"

"I guess she kinda let us get them didn't she?"

"Only after she knew that we could work together as a team," said Kagura.

"Indeed," said Chiyo, "individually we're not much of a threat. Together we might actually stand a chance of beating someone."

"Oh man," said Tomo, "I still hate going on these stupid cat catching missions and weed exterminations!"

"Quit complaining," said Kagura, "don't make me shut you up."

"Like you really could!"

"I did it yesterday!"

"So what?"

"So everything!"

Chiyo shook her head in disgust as the two rolled around in the dirt. Their angry growls and punches filled the air with noise.

"Ow!"

"Will you two stop it?" asked Chiyo, kicking them again for good measure.

"Fine."

The two picked themselves up off of the ground, dusting off their pants and shirts.

Tomo stood in front of the leader of her village, along with the rest of her team. _I can't believe this, we're getting another stupid mission!_ "Hey, when are we going to stop getting these crummy cat catching missions, you old bat?"

"Tomo, do not insult Number Three. He is the leader of our country after all," said Sakaki.

"So you're tired of catching cats?" asked Number Three, "Do you think that you can do anything else?"

"Heck yeah I do," said Tomo.

"And what do you think Sakaki?"

"If you want a babysitter for these three, then you'll need to talk to someone else."

"Now, now Sakaki. These three might just surprise you," said Yukari.

Sakaki didn't acknowledge her comment.

"Well," said Number Three, "I think it's perfectly safe to give your team a priority C mission, don't you think Sakaki?"

"I have a feeling that you want me to say yes. Very well, what is your wish Number Three?"

"I think you and your trainees will be able to look after this man with the lame hat, don't you agree?"

"I'm sure we can protect him." _Or at least I can, they are just kids after all_.

"Yeah," said Tomo, "we finally get to do something!"

"Now just remember," said Sakaki, "whatever happens you three need to work together, understand?"

"I know I do," said Tomo, "I saw the proof for that idea yesterday."

"Good." Sakaki turned to face the three trainees she had. "Chiyo is your team leader, no complaints Tomo. Understood?"

Two nods and an angry growl met Sakaki's ears. She rolled her eyes and they guided the man towards his destination.

"Oh man," said Tomo, "this is so—"

"Not another word," said Sakaki, "you've been complaining ever since I was made your master."

"Tomo's just upset because she hasn't gotten to fight any ninjas yet," said Kagura, "even though she'd probably lose."

"What? I'll make you regret those words!" Tomo felt a hand on her shoulder. "Um, sorry Sakaki. I won't do that, okay?" The young girl gave an awkward smile as Sakaki sighed.

"Okay, it's time to attack that man we were sent to kill," said a ninja hidden on the side of the road. "But we should take out that strong, skilled, and sexy ninja with black hair first. I mean otherwise she'd try to stop us."

"Do you think we can take her?"

"No," said Sakaki, "because I have you tied up." She pointed a kunai knife at the face of one of her captives. "I was a member of the AMBU Black Ops, my training specialized in information gathering, and interrogation. What were you trying to do?"

"We were sent on a mission, that we were not to tell anyone about."

"That means I'm just going to have to work it out of you," said Sakaki. "I'll remove your eyes, that's usually all it takes to get people to talk."

"They'll never tell you why they were sent."

Sakaki turned around to see a man with a huge sword standing near the man she had been ordered to protect. His hair, his eyes, his voice, they were just like all of the reports had said. Zabuza, of the village That Only Serves as a Reference.

"It's really quite simple," said Zabuza, "they were supposed to kill that man you're guarding. However I was sent when they heard that a skilled ninja had been sent to look after him."

"Zabuza," said Sakaki, "what did you think you could do against me?"

"Only this."

A giant ball of water surrounded Sakaki. She struggled against the dense sphere, to no avail.

"Oh no," said Tomo, "Sakaki's gonna die!"

"This technique doesn't actually drown the target," said Zabuza, "it merely imprisons them."

"That's dumb," said Tomo.

"Don't piss him off," said Kagura, "he has a huge sword on his back."

"Why would you only want to imprison Sakaki?" asked Tomo.

"Let's just say that I have plans for her."

"But you're forced to stand right next to that ball of water where you won't be able to get the guy," said Tomo, "what good'll that do?"

"Uh Tomo," said Kagura, "he can make copies of himself."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," said Zabuza, "now I can accomplish my mission, and still keep a prize for myself." The evil man laughed, only to see Sakaki standing in front of him.

"Tell me," said Sakaki, "did you really think that I would be so easy to beat?" Zabuza looked at the sphere. Inside of it he could see Sakaki.

_I should have expected that she would be able to create clones_, thought Zabuza. He released the ball of water, slashing the Sakaki clone with his sword. He looked up to see that Tomo had destroyed his water clone. _They're much stronger than I thought, so it's only logical to send out a ninja in training to destroy them!_

Haku rushed out to meet the three girls as Sakaki and Zabuza tried to cut each other down.

"It's some type of masked monster," said Tomo, "let's kick its ass!"

"Do you really think that your students will be able to stop my student?" Zabuza asked Sakaki.

"I merely have to destroy you first," said Sakaki, blocking a swing from Zabuza's sword, "then I can go help them out."

Zabuza let out a deep laugh as his sword sparked against Sakaki's kunai knife. "Am I really so easy to defeat?" asked Zabuza.

"I don't know," said Sakaki, "but judging from the knife held against your throat, I'd say the answer is yes."

Zabuza looked down to see a kunai knife pressed against his throat.

"How did you do that?" asked Zabuza, "Are you really that fast?"

"No," said Sakaki, "I merely distracted you with genjutsu."

"Impossible," said Zabuza, despite the fact that the blade pressed against his throat felt very real.

Tomo slammed her fist into a slab of ice. "Ow!" She rubbed her hurt hand. "Damn it."

"You aren't as dangerous as you told me you were," said Haku, "I thought you said you were some sort of highly trained assassin."

"Shut up!" yelled Tomo. Pins shot out of a sheet of ice into her arm. The girl whimpered slightly as she yanked the needles out, small droplets of blood flowing down her left arm.

"Hey! Leave my friend alone!"

Tomo looked up to see Kagura deflecting sharp needles with the blade of her kunai knife. The tinkle of metal on metal got Tomo back onto her feet.

"Great job Kagura! Now I can get the drop on him!" Tomo watched as Chiyo shattered one of the ice mirrors with a giant shuriken. Haku leapt away from the icy rubble into another mirror.

"Not so fast!"

Haku turned to see a fist slam into his face. The mask shattered as Tomo's punch broke the boy's nose.

_I can't believe that I failed_, thought Haku as he fell onto the ground, _forgive me, Zabuza_.

"That was a close one Sakaki," said Zabuza, blood dripping down his shoulder from a deep gash. "I should have expected as much from you, especially considering your nickname, Death Eyes. It was said during the Great War, that one look into your eyes could stop a man's heart. I can understand why they said such things, your genjutsu leaves an opponent open to attack, without them even knowing it. That only means that I'll take so much more pleasure in—agh!" A kunai knife dug its way into Zabuza's chest.

"Finally," said Sakaki, "I thought you'd never shut up." Zabuza fell to the ground dead. Sakaki turned to face her trainees. The boy known as Haku lay on the ground. Sakaki shoved a kunai knife into his eye, just to make sure.

"Eww," said Kagura, as a cracking sound filled the air while Sakaki twisted the blade around. "Is that really necessary?"

"I don't leave possible threats lying around," said Sakaki, "where's the man we were guarding?"

"He ran off like coward," said Tomo, "what should we do now?"

"Let's just chalk this one up as a win and go home," said Sakaki, "we really don't have to do anything else."

"So what happens now?" asked Tomo.

"The most filler like plot arc you can possibly imagine," said Sakaki.


	4. Invasion!

_Recently on Azumanga's Ninja Adventure, a long and drawn out story arc took place. While sections of the arc were enjoyable, the majority of it was unessential to the plot and could have been left out. In fact the most interesting portion was the section where Tomo met an interesting man, named Ken, who taught her some new ninja abilities. Then during the final fight between Chiyo and a strange boy from a distant land an attack began leaving us at the beginning of the battle between the forces of Kona...something and an ancient enemy of Number 3, the leader of the village._

"You'll never destroy the village!"

"What makes you so sure, un-named extra?" asked the invader.

"This is our home, we'll defend it till our last breath!"

"Seeing as how we snuck in so easily that won't help you much!" the invader wickedly snarled.

"I won't just let you kill every one of my friends!" he screamed, before the fight between the two of them continued.

"Well, well," said Sakaki, "It looks like Tomo and Kagura are asleep. I can't believe that I'm forced to handle everything on my own once again. This is starting to annoy me." The bodies of fallen foes lay around Sakaki. The elite ninja walked over to her sleeping students. "Now awaken children."

"Huh?" Tomo scratched her head in confusion. "Why was I asleep?"

"I dunno," said Kagura, "where is everybody?"

"Listen you two," the girls turned towards Sakaki, "we've been attacked by the Sound ninjas, and the Sand ninjas. Chiyo went off on her own not too long ago to finish her fight with that strange boy from the Land of Sand. I want you two to find her, she may need your help."

"You can count on us!"

Sakaki couldn't help but inwardly frown at them. _I just hope that they understand what the stakes are_, she thought, _this will be their first high ranking mission since we fought against Zabuza_. She had to do it though, they were out of options.

"So," said Number 3, "You think that I'm going to be easy to defeat?" The kunai knife against Number 3's throat made him appear defeated. But even though he was an elderly man, he was still one of the most powerful ninjas in the entire world.

"No, I think you'll be _exceptionally_ easy to defeat. Isn't that right my old teacher?"

"You never change." Number 3 felt his chest ease as the pressure was removed. He knew this person, nothing about the upcoming fight would be easy.

"So then." A mask fell onto the redtiled roof. "Why don't we get on with it?"

"Then let us begin, Emo Princess."

"So let me get this straight," said Tomo, "Some former ninja from this village, is trying to kill old man Number 3?"

"Yes," said Sakaki, "Emo Princess was trained by Number 3 along with two others. During the great war between nations she killed hundreds of enemies under the command of Number 4, the same man who sealed away the Nine Tailed Fox. At the end of the war Emo Princess became a rogue ninja. She's a dangerous criminal, one that only Number 3 can possibly confront."

"What makes her so dangerous Sakaki-sensei?" asked Tomo, "Why can't someone like you or Yukari defeat her?"

Sakaki turned to face the girl. "She was considered to be the strongest of all ninja during the war. In a battle between her and the king of another land she defeated him, without recieving so much as a scratch."

"Really? How powerful was that guy?"

"You're young Tomo," said Sakaki, "You've never seen combatants that make Zabuza look like a pushover before."

"What?"

"Emo Princess' skill gave her the name of Legendary Ninja, only Number 3 has a chance of stopping her."

"Then we should go after that weird kid," said Kagura, "That way everyone else will have one less thing to worry about!"

"Be careful you two," said Sakaki, "There will be plenty of enemy ninjas between here and there. Chiyo's counting on you, so don't let her down."

"We can do it!" said the two of them, striking muscular poses.

"Then get going."

"What are you going to do?" they asked Sakaki.

"I'm going to see if there's anything that I can do to help Number 3, I'll see you guys when this is over."

"We need to keep moving, or that pink haired kid will catch up to us before Tempermental has a chance to recover!" said a boy.

"But doesn't he have that horrendous power inside of him?" asked a girl.

"It didn't help him out that much before, did it?"

"I guess you're right," said the girl.

"Put me down," said Tempermental.

"But Tempermental," said the boy, "you're weak."

"I want you to put me down!"

The two children carrying Tempermental gently set him on the ground. The strange boy let out a twisted scream. The two who had been carrying him backed away.

"Come out and play Chiyo!" he cried, "are you afraid of me?" Tempermental then began to scream.

"What's happening to him?"

"I think it's coming out again," said the boy.

"You mean...?"

"Yes," said the boy, "That monster's going to take control of Tempermental again!"

"Come on!" cried the boy, "Is this what you are Mihama, a coward?"

"Sorry it took so long."

The boy named Tempermental's face contorted into a demonic grin. Chiyo stood in front him, kunai knife in hand. The boy laughed like an insane hyena before a portion of his face transformed into an ugly sandy mess.

"What's the matter?" asked Tempermental, watching Chiyo grimace as his face began to change. "Are you going to attack me, or am I going to have to come over there?"

Chiyo readied her kunai knife. Whatever this boy was she wasn't afraid. It would only take her a minute to defeat him. After all of the extra training Sakaki had given her she was destined to win, wasn't she?

"What's this?" asked Number 3, "Emo Princess, are you crying? Is it because you're sad to see your old master so old, or are you having problems fighting against me?"

"No," said Emo Princess, "I accidently hit a nerve when I was cutting myself earlier today."

"Ah," said Number 3, "I don't get it."

"Who cares if you don't get it?" asked Emo Princess, "Because you're about to die!" A dark purple barrier appeared around the two of them. "Do you see you worthless old man? We're here to fight it out to our hearts' content because my followers have blocked off any outside interference." The evil woman gave Number 3 a cruel smile as two boxes rose out of the ground. "Let's make this awesome," she hissed, "Tell me my old sensei, do you remember these two?"

Number 3 gave a growl as he saw who were inside the boxes. "I see you mastered a forbidden jutsu, why do you always enjoy destroying those traditions that we hold sacred?"

"I just don't see the point of not using power whenever it's available," said Emo Princess, "You still remember Number Two and Number One I see. Haven't you always wanted to destroy your old master just as I have? If so, here's your lucky day."

The two still figures came to life. They turned to face each other, knowing that their will was useless as a means to stop them from fighting their old friend.

"Forgive us," said the two of them, "but we have been asked to destroy you old friend, may you be victorious against us."

"Damn it!" yelled a member of the AMBU Black Ops, "Why did we get here so late! We can't protect Number 3 with that barrier up, what are we supposed to do?"

"Have faith," said another member of the AMBU Black Ops, "We must trust that Number 3 can defeat the enemy, so that we can support him."

"Why don't we just try to break through?" asked a female AMBU Black Ops member.

"We could burrow under the tiles couldn't we?"

"Are you kidding me?" asked another AMBU Black Ops member, "A giant forest of trees just grew on top of this building within that barrier! There's no way we can dig through these tiles to get in, if we could this roof would have collapsed!"

"Well maybe we can flip the roof over so that the people forming the barrier will fall off."

"They can walk on water, they're able to stick to anything!"

"Yeah, I guess we can't do anything."

"I can't believe that the AMBU was so easily tricked," said Yukari.

"Yeah," said Sakaki, "They're supposed to be the best of the best, but they can't do any better than we can."

"We need to find a way to help Number 3," said their friend Natsumi.

"Actually it might be more helpful if you go to look after Kagura and Tomo," said Sakaki, "I don't like the idea of them wandering around the forest on their own."

"Right." The woman vanished as she went to go protect the students.

"Good luck," Sakaki whispered, hoping for the best.

"Come on Tomo," said Kagura, "We need to keep going."

"Don't worry about me," said Tomo, "We'll be fine."

"I'm glad that Sakaki-sensei gave us a talking dog that can smell where people are," said Kagura, "she's so cool."

"The dog is a boy," said Tomo.

"I meant Sakaki-sensei."

"I smell enemies approaching," said Sparky the talking dog.

"Aw crap," said Tomo, "I'll have to stall them."

"Are you crazy? We're being hunted by real ninjas!"

"Shut up!" Tomo slammed her fist into the side of a tree, leaving a dent in the wood. "We're real ninjas too aren't we?" Tomo looked at her friend. "Or are we just a bunch of little kids?"

"Tomo these guys have been training for longer than we've been alive!" said Kagura, "you can't take them."

"I can," said Tomo, "I know it!"

"Don't," said Kagura.

"I'll be fine," said Tomo, "I hate to say it but you're stronger than me, not much, just an inch, not even that much really, but if anyone needs to go help Chiyo it's you."

"Sakaki wants us to go together!"

"I'll be there when I finish up with these guys," said Tomo, "Take Sparky and go."

"Fine," said Kagura, "Just be careful okay?"

"It's a deal. I'll light 'em up."

"Light 'em up?"

"Okay," said Tomo, "So maybe I can't use fireballs but hey, you better get going."

"Good luck." Tomo watched her friend rush off towards Chiyo.

"Okay," said Tomo, "I have just the plan for dealing with these guys!"

"Hey little girl." Tomo gulped before turning around. "What are you doing here? Making a heroic last stand?" The men laughed as Tomo clenched her fists.

"This stupid kid thinks that she can take us on," the man laughed, "she's such an idiot."

"Shut up!" said Tomo, "Especially when I have you surrounded!"

"No you don't."

"Eh, it was worth a shot."

"Let's gut her and then keep the other two from interfering with Tempermental."

"Did someone need Deus Ex Machina?"

Everyone turned to see Natsumi, who promptly kicked the invaders' asses.

"You'd better go find Chiyo," said Natsumi. And with that Tomo was off to find her friends.

"I'll seal you away, just like I did with the first two kings!" cried Number 3.

"No!" screamed Emo Princess, "I refuse to lose to someone who's so old that his liverspots have hairs in them!"

"You never did understand what gave me all of my strength," said Number Three, "All these people are depending on me, I can't let them down!"

"You can't seal me away!" said Emo Princess, "not when I ran a sword straight through your chest!"

"I don't care!" said Number Three, "You'll never destroy my home!"

Tomo looked at Chiyo lying on the ground, Kagura at her side, face down as well.

"Are you two all right?" asked Tomo.

"I'm fine," said Chiyo, "Kagura collapsed after our fight against Tempermental."

"You beat him?"

"No," said Chiyo, "they got away."

"I can't believe this," said Tomo, "the bad guys escaped with no harm?"

"Run!" screamed one of the city guards, "giant snakes are attacking the city!"

Several ninjas squealed like little girls, while others tried to be men and fight the giant boas to the death.

"What kind of enemy has a fascination with snakes?" cried one of the guards.

"I don't know," said another who threw an explosive kunai at the head of another snake. "All I know is that we're being pwned by these things!"

Suddenly a giant amphibian fell from the sky crushing one of the snakes. "I think I came at just the right time," said Ken, "these snake beasts almost destroyed you."

The guards were confused by what had happened, but they were glad that the other snakes slid away in fear as the giant amphibian turned to face them.

"This part of the city is secure," said Ken, "but I'll stick around to make sure of it!"

"Come now, you don't know about the shadow posession jutsu? Then I guess you don't know about the shadow strangulation jutsu either!"

The defender heard enemies behind him, he rushed away to escape. Suddenly he found himself gasping for breath in a canal.

"Surprised aren't you?" A man looked down as the defender gapsed for air. "You may have made our arms and legs useless," said the man, "but I'm afraid that genjutsu still worked just fine. I think it's funny that you don't know how to swim, how pathetic."

"Curse you..." the man bubbled as he sank below the water.

"We failed to destroy the village this time," said the man, "but I don't think we'll have this problem again."

"Why is that?" asked the other invaders.

"Because next time only the most powerful ninjas will come to wipe this hamlet off of the mountainside."

The attackers disappeared into the surrounding forest unnoticed by the rest of the defenders.

"Damn you, you stupid old man!" Emo Princess screamed, "Why won't you die?"

"Not unless I take you with me!" said Number Three, "I refuse to let someone as evil as you roam free!"

However Number Three became worried about the outcome of the battle. Emo Princess had stabbed a sword straight through his chest, he didn't know how he could continue to stand let alone defeat his former pupil. The elder grumbled to himself as his strength began to ebb.

_I have to destroy her, but how?_

"Come on you two!" screamed Tomo, "we have to stop Tempermental from destroying the village!"

"But how?" asked Kagura, "Tempermental has super ninja powers, we're just kids!"

"He's a kid!" Tomo pointed out.

"Yeah, a kid who kills people for fun!" cried Kagura, "We're just lucky not to have been eaten by his monster form!"

"Yeah," said Chiyo, "he has some sort of monster thing inside of him. We managed to defeat it somehow."

"Come on you two! Sakaki-sensei would have wanted us to finish the job!"

"Tomo," said Kagura, "I think Sakaki will be happy to know that we didn't get our asses handed to us just now."

"What kind of villains leave the destruction of a village filled with enemies up to a ten year old kid anyways?" asked Tomo.

"Yeah," said Kagura, "Considering that we managed to stop the Ninetails on our own, why would someone think that a sand beast thing could destroy the village?"

"I don't know," said Chiyo, "But we'll never be able to get along with those people from the land of sand."

Kagura and Tomo nodded in agreement, they would never see eye to eye them, the people who had tried to destroy their home.

"Curse you Emo Princess!" yelled Number Three, "Why did the sand ever agree to help you?"

"Your refusal to export razorblades caused a multitude of sand people to be unable to cut themselves," said Emo Princess, "so when I told them that now would be a good time to destroy this place, let's just say they 'bled' with joy!"

"Damn you," said Number Three, "I don't have the strength to seal your soul in the depths of the reaper! So I'll have to settle for sealing your arms away, leaving you powerless!"

"What?" cried Emo Princess, "That's just stupid!"

"Give me a break!" said Number Three, "I'm a hundred year old man with a sword through my chest! I can't be expected to do much better!"

"No!" cried Emo Princess as her arms crumbled into dust. "My followers, you must take me to our secret hiding place now!"

The AMBU Black Ops rushed to Number Three's still form. Sakaki couldn't help but feel useless. Emo Princess had attacked this place before and she'd been just as powerless then as she was now.

"Now what?" asked Tomo after the funeral was over.

"We're gonna need some time to think," said Yukari, "Number Three was our leader, he gave his life to protect us."

"Just like Number Four," said Natsumi.

"I have an arc that can help us with this," said Ken.

"You do?"

"Yes, but it won't be quite as epic as this one was."


	5. New Threats

"This meeting has been called to order since we have a crisis on our hands."

The faces of the proud ninja of Konahagakure looked at the man in front of them. He was one of their most powerful, and most respected, ninja. He had traveled to distant lands and fought countless battles. His skill was great and in the wake of the death of Number Three, the old king of the village, they needed someone to guide them. This man promised them that someone.

"We've just suffered a devastating attack from the combined forces of Emo Princess, one of only three legendary ninja, and the betrayal of the Sand and Sound with their secret weapon, a boy named Temperamental. I think I speak for all of us when I say that if we've become the target of a legendary ninja that we need the guidance of a legendary ninja." The man rested his hands on a wooden table.

"Ken, we need you to protect Konahagakure no one else here is strong enough to do such a task!"

"I appreciate the respect you've given me," said Ken, "But Emo Princess is stronger than I am, a lot stronger. During the war I was one of our top ninja. I fought off hundreds of skilled opponents and even chased the infamous Poison Fang back to the Land of Steel where I slew him with my signature technique. But I am not a legendary ninja, they are all more powerful than I am."

"But there's only one of them left! The other two have been gone for quite some time now, they're probably dead!"

"Heh," Ken smiled at the man, "Do you have so little faith in the people who protected us from the blades of our enemies in our time of greatest crisis? I don't think any of you have forgotten the level of skill they displayed when it seemed that all hope was lost. I know it might seem like a long shot," he told them, "but I know that one of them is still out there."

"Which one?"

"The one whose physical prowess was second to none, even Emo Princess. The one who stopped the Land of Water's army dead in its tracks. The one who killed the king of the sea with only one attack. The one who always longed to teach the next generation of ninja to be the proud defenders of Konahagakure."

"You don't mean…."

"I do," said Ken, "The legendary medical ninja and Master of the Water and its creatures. She's the one we need as our leader, or does anyone else have a suggestion?"

"That's all fine and dandy," said Sakaki, "but we don't even know where she is, or if she'd be willing to come back to Konahagakure to serve as Number Five. In case this doesn't work what's our back up plan?"

"I'll just have to find the other one of the three legendary ninjas," said Ken, "The one that was famous for her use of fire and lightning, said to have the ability to light up the sky and burn the heavens."

"Ken," said Sakaki, "maybe it's time for you to let it go."

"Not until I know for sure," said Ken, "until then I still have hope, and that's all I need to continue searching." He looked up at the rest of the ninja gathered before him. All of them were willing to give up everything to protect the village; yet they needed to know that there was some one to look up to, someone to lead. "I'll bring her back to the village, but I need someone to come with me."

"Who?"

"A certain n00b in need of a change of pace."

"So this is Konahagakure," said a dark cloak, "it's a real dump isn't it?" the voice let off a deep, vile laugh.

"Don't underestimate the people here," said a smaller cloak, "I was here during the raid that Emo Princess attempted to use to destroy this sleepy little hamlet. It was only thanks to my great strength of genjutsu that we managed to escape from a unique art, that was created here."

"Did you make sure to finish this art off once and for all?" asked the taller of the cloaks.

"Yes, I am the more goal oriented of the two of us, remember?"

"Then let's find what we came here for," said the taller cloak, "I'm getting tired of standing here in this mist."

"Oh Saburo," said Natsumi, "don't sweat it I know how to handle myself, you were the one who wound up in the hospital remember after the invasion?"

"I was up against some pretty tough odds," said Saburo, "it's not like I was out on a Sunday stroll."

"Oh there you go," said Natsumi, "talking about how great you are again." She sighed as she gave him a smile, "why don't you just admit that I'm better than you are?"

"I see you two are still arguing over that," said Sakaki, "I just wanted to tell you something."

"Oh?" said Natsumi, a change in her eyes.

Sakaki's eyes darted towards the two empty seats behind her.

"We understand." Natsumi and Saburo disappeared in an instant.

"Just where do you two think you're going?"

"Heh, heh, a couple of pests want to tangle with us?" said the taller of the two, "that's fine by me, this assignment was getting to be a little too unexciting for my taste." The huge shape whipped out a gigantic sword. "Which one of you is first?"

"Don't over exert yourself, Shark Face," said the smaller cloak, "these two aren't much of a threat to people like us."

"Oh really?" asked Saburo, "we're elites of our village, they don't just give those titles away for fun. We both have years of battle field experience and neither one of us is going to just let the two of you walk away from here."

"Whether you let us or not," said the smaller of the two cloaks, "we will get what we came here for. Are you ready Shark Face?"

"Yeah," Shark Face smiled as he raised his sword above his head, "I love to kill."

"I expected nothing less from you," said his partner, "but my techniques are subtler than yours."

Natsumi tried to block Shark Face's sword as Saburo tried to get away from the smaller cloak's shuriken based attacks. The two of them began to feel outmatched as Natsumi's shoulder dripped blood and Saburo's hands turned red.

A blur of movement caused the two cloaked men to rush off onto a nearby river; where they had been before a mess of shuriken and kunai made the concrete walkway into a pincushion. Natsumi and Saburo stood on top of the river facing the two criminals, along with the new arrival.

"I'm glad that I followed the two of you," said Sakaki, "I know it's bad manners to not believe in those who you ask for help but I couldn't live with myself if you two died because I asked you two for a favor." Sakaki closed her eyes for a moment, before revealing two red irises.

"Do you really think you'll need that to beat these clowns?" asked Natsumi, rubbing the area of her shoulder that had been cut.

"We all know how powerful these two are, especially him." Sakaki pointed a finger at the smaller of the two assailants. "Isn't that right, brother?"

"Brother?" said Natsumi, "you don't mean…?"

"Yes, my dear older brother, the one who killed every other member of our clan. The one who made us both orphans, and who left me alive to remember what he had done to our people." Sakaki's hand squeezed the handle of her kunai knife. "I've waited a very long time for him to come back."

"You don't sound very happy to see me," said Sakaki's brother, "why don't we change that?"

Sakaki gasped, these sights, these sounds. These were the things that had haunted her memories for over a decade, this was when she had seen her entire clan wiped out in front of her. _No, I can't be here. This, this happened years ago!_

_Indeed it did my sister_, the sound of her brother's voice filled Sakaki's head, _but there are techniques I have that allow you to…relive those charming events from our past._

_Damn it! How far have you progressed with your illusions?_

_Sister, if you knew how far I had come you never would have followed me here. I'm afraid that it's time for you to suffer once again._

Natsumi watched as Sakaki knelt on the ground, panting like a dog.

"Oh my, using _that_ jutsu on your dear sister?" asked Shark Face, "that's barbaric, even for me." Shark Face whipped out his sword. "Looks like your usefulness towards the plot is over! Now die!"

The sword slashed towards Natsumi and Saburo.

"Too bad for you!"

Natsumi saw the blade stop, blocked by another. A powerful kick sent Shark Face flying back towards Sakaki's brother. Natsumi heard some one laugh. _That showoff_.

"It looks like I got here just in time," said the man as Sakaki began to sink into the water. He pulled her out and handed her to Natsumi. "Don't worry about these two," said the man, "leave everything to me."

"Who is that guy?" asked Shark Face, "He managed to catch me off guard."

"His name is Ichigo Kurosaki," said Sakaki's brother, "he's one of the few ninja who use swords as their primary form of attack."

"I never did like a copycat," said Shark Face. The grey skinned mutant lifted his sword.

"Don't bother," said Sakaki's brother, "you're no match for someone as skilled with the blade as he is."

"Oh I don't know about that," said Shark Face, "Why don't we find out?"

"You forgot that I can see everything," said Sakaki's brother, "and I know that in a one on one fight you two are far from equals. I doubt he could defeat me but if we stay here too long we won't be able to complete our objective."

"Fine," said Shark Face as the two of them left.

"It's not safe to follow them," said Ichigo, "That fish faced freak isn't as big a pushover as that bastard made him out to be. And if Sakaki's brother could bring down one our most respected ninja without a single blow then he isn't a slouch either."

"So was that all a bunch of talk back there?" asked Natsumi, "you said that you could handle them!"

"That's what I thought at first, but I've never seen that guy look so calm before, damn him." Ichigo formed a blue mass of chakra on his palm, which he then slammed into Sakaki.

"What happened?"

"They got away," said Ichigo, "so you mind—"

Sakaki jumped off of the river and onto the walkway.

"Hey, Sakaki! Damn it, where is she running off too?"

"Those guys said they were after something, she must be going to stop them!"

"Is she insane?" asked Ichigo, "I better go keep her out of trouble!"

"Why are we traveling together again?" Tomo asked Ken.

"You need some sort of father figure in your life," said the man, "that's why I happen to be here, plus we both know that with my training you can become a great ninja."

"Whatever," said Tomo, "just don't be weird this time all right?"

"I'm not making any promises that I can't guarantee I can keep," said Ken. He felt a chill run down his back. A knock on the door piqued his curiosity. "Stay here, I'll handle this."

"As if," said Tomo, "I can open a door!"

"Well hello Ken, we were hoping that you might just have something we want," said a familiar fishy face, "now how will this go down?"

"I don't know why you're bothering me, Shark Face," said Ken, "we both know that you're too afraid to attack me."

"I finally got here!" cried Sakaki. Shark Face turned to face the woman, as did her brother. "I swore on the bodies of our mother and father that I would kill you," Sakaki spat, "now, chidori!"

Sakaki's brother placed a hand on Sakaki's face, before placing a fist in her gut. Tomo watched in horror as her sensei was being beaten by the man with long black hair. She heard herself growl as her teacher was turned into a bloody pulp.

Ken decided to act. "Summoning jutsu!" A strange pink flesh covered the hallway, surrounding Sakaki and separating her from the violence of her brother.

"What is this stuff?" asked Shark Face.

"The most original use of an attack since this series began!" said Ken, "you've now been trapped in the belly of a giant fire breathing salamander!"

"That's stupid!" said Shark Face, "who summons a bunch of—"

"There's no time to argue Shark Face, or we'll be digested."

The thought of dying in a salamander quieted Shark Face who along with Sakaki's brother quickly exited the stomach using fire.

"Those two jerks," said Tomo, "I can't believe that they did this to Sakaki-sensei."

"Neither can I," said Ichigo, "how did this happen?"

"I thought Sakaki was strong enough," said Ken, "If I'd known before hand how this would turn out I would never have let her fight him alone."

"Damn him," said Ichigo, as he slung Sakaki over his shoulder, "after she gets her ass kicked by him with some new sharingan she comes over here to try and stop him again." The man just shook his orange head.

"You didn't use the chakra defibrillator on her did you Ichigo?"

"Only a small amount of it!"

"I told you to never use that technique you developed, sometimes it's more harmful than helpful to an individual."

"I see what you mean," said Ichigo, feeling Sakaki's badly damaged body resting against his shoulders, "I'm taking her back to Konahagakure; then I'm going to train."

"You shouldn't pursue him," said Ken, "he's out of your league."

"I don't care, I've always wanted to fight him." Ichigo's eyes hardened, and then he left quickly but gently.

"So now what do we do?" asked Tomo, "If we're looking for someone shouldn't we be getting a move on?"

"We'll find her don't you worry about that."

"But Ken who is she anyways?"

"An old friend of mine," he told her, "Minamo Kurosawa."


	6. The Search Begins

Ken and Tomo walked through a small park near a small village. "We're getting closer to finding this woman; I can feel it."

"So let me get this straight," said Tomo, "we're here for you to make a booty call with some friend of yours?"

"No," Ken chuckled, "we're going to find someone even more powerful than I am."

"And why is that exactly?"

"Think about it," said Ken, "why would we need a powerful ninja, what just happened?"

"Uh..."

"Come on Tomo it was only a few days ago. Honestly how naïve are you?"

"Oh yeah," said Tomo, "Emo Princess invaded the village and Sakaki-sensei got the crap beaten out of her by that one guy, who were those people anyways? Didn't you call one of them Shark Face or something?"

"Let's not worry about them until Part Two."

"Until when now?"

"That man with the giant sword, everyone calls him Shark Face because he looks like some fish faced mutant," Ken turned his head towards Tomo, "and that other man, he's Sakaki's older brother."

"Wha-why would her brother do that to her? That doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't think family ties matter to him all that much."

Tomo felt confused, "but Sakaki-sensei said that she'd vowed to kill him. Ken, what did that guy do?"

"He killed every last member of his clan, except for Sakaki."

"How did she survive?"

"Because I was there, along with one of the legendary ninjas of Konahagakure. When we showed up, he fled."

"And is that the person we've been looking for?" asked Tomo.

"No, we're not looking for my sister."

"Wait a minute," said Tomo, "your sister is stronger than you are?" Tomo erupted with laughter. "What good are you then? You can't even beat a girl!"

"Neither can you," said Ken, "if I remember you lost the first part of the fighting exam to a seven year old who was accidentally put in there."

"That was the written part of the exam!"

"You still lost so what does it matter?" Ken gave Tomo a smile. "We're a lot alike. It's almost as if we were based off each other, though the same could be said for you and Yukari."

"So how are we gonna find this Kurosawa person anyways?"

"Don't worry about it," said Ken, "What we need to do right now is train you."

"If we need to get Kurosawa to Konhagakure so bad then why would we stop to train me? Isn't the village in danger of being attacked? What about Emo Princess and her quest to destroy the village Ken?"

"Tomo don't you remember what grampa did to Emo Princess?" Ken went on, "He made her arms useless so now she's unable to perform jutsu. Konahagakure will be all right for a little while but we do need to hurry and what I'm going to teach you can be practiced as we travel on the road."

"Grampa?" asked Tomo.

"You knew him as Number Three. I knew him as grandfather."

"He, he was your grandfather?" Tomo looked at the man who smiled. "Huh? Why do you smile all the time anyways?"

"Heh, grampa lost because he wasn't strong enough if I'd been there too we'd have one less threat for Konahagakure. The reason we need to train you is simple, aside from your shadow clone technique all you can do well is use shuriken based attacks. What I'm going to do is teach you a more powerful attack that you can use. That way you'll appear to have at least some semblance of a variety or deep move pool you can draw off of. Now pay attention." A small blue sphere appeared on Ken's palm. "You see that tree over there?"

"Yeah, what's so special about that?" asked Tomo.

"This jutsu will turn it into dust." Ken slammed the small blue sphere into the trunk; then a powerful swirling force caused the tree to vanish in an instant becoming a pile of wooden dust and splinters. "That technique is called the rasengan; it was developed by the Fourth, my father."

"Wow," said Tomo, "That technique looks awesome but, how are you gonna teach it to me?"

"Here, use your chakra to make this water balloon explode, like this." Tomo watched as a water balloon erupted into a geyser of mist and chakra in Ken's palm.

"How do I do that?"

"I'm sorry Tomo, it's a secret. Part of the training for the rasengan is that you need to find out how the jutsu works on your own. Just remember what I did, that will guide you."

"You've gotta be kidding me! How am I supposed to do this on my own?"

"I did it," said Ken, "and if you want to become a great ninja, you'll have to be more resourceful. Once you pop that balloon we'll move on to the next step in your training. Until then we'll wait out here."

"Okay, then let's get started!"

"Ah! Nothing like a nice relaxing nap to get myself in the mood to—"

"Lady Kurosawa, you've been asleep for five hours."

"What? Why didn't you wake me up before now? Oh man, now I've spent the whole day sleeping."

"My lady, maybe it would help you to take a walk, to relax some more?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt," said Minamo, "I haven't gone on a nice quiet stroll in a while."

_Oh Lady Kurosawa_, thought the black haired woman, _we don't get out much do we?_

The two of them walked down a narrow alleyway. Kurosawa's one woman entourage pointed towards a famous castle on their left, which promptly exploded. Out of the rubble and dust a lone figure emerged. Kurosawa's face hardened as she turned towards an old acquaintance of hers, Emo Princess and one other.

Kurosawa's companion threw poison needles at Emo Princess but they were blocked by the evil woman's assistant. Minamo's friend then tried to stab Emo Princess' assistant with a scalpel. She paused in her actions since they were almost perfectly mirrored by the four eyed villain.

"Get away from those two," said Kurosawa, "Together they're completely beyond you." Minamo's friend quickly jumped back.

"Well, well Kurosawa, fancy meeting you here," Emo Princess snickered, her arms a strange brown color. "And just how are you today my old friend?"

"Hmph," said Minamo, "we haven't been friends for a very long time. Why exactly are you here Emo Princess? I doubt you decided to come here to reminisce about the old days, before you were a traitor to the village."

"Now, now my dear Kurosawa, what makes you think that I have any special reason for being here?" the slimy serpent woman asked.

"I've known you for a very long time," said Kurosawa, "you've never been the type to show up without a selfish reason."

"Very well, my assistant Doctor Annoying will explain the situation here shortly. Now if you'd care to listen to her I would be most appreciative." The criminal backed up against the wall, her breath heavy.

"Right, Emo Princess needs your help Lady Kurosawa. As you can see she needs someone to heal her arms since they've been greatly injured," Doctor Annoying told Minamo.

"She needs my help? What makes you think that you'll get it?"

"Because my old friend, I have a rare opportunity for you. If you can heal my arms, I'll bring your love back from the dead. What do you say?" Emo Princess had a wicked smile on her face.

"M-my love is, my love is…?"

"I'm afraid so Kurosawa. I can bring anyone back from the grave using a forbidden jutsu that I developed." Emo Princess had a slight gasp in her voice. "If you have any concerns as to whether or not I really can do it think about this; if I can't bring people back from the dead then why would I have wasted your time with talk or a reanimation jutsu? The choice is yours of course."

"How do you know that—"

"Because I killed it."

"What?" Minamo felt her heart stop, only for a moment. "You monster. Why would I ever do anything that you ask?"

"Come now Kurosawa, don't you want to see your beloved Kagami again?" Emo Princess' wicked smile grew larger as she saw Minamo bare her teeth.

"I can't believe that Kagami, one of only three legendary ninja, would ever lose to—"

"She didn't believe it until her heart stopped beating," said Emo Princess, "that was a very difficult fight. I'm sure you can understand why. It was much more difficult than killing old man Number Three, when I attacked Konahagakure."

"You did what? Lady Kurosawa, you can't help her, she's the bad guy…er girl?"

"Oh come now Kurosawa," Emo Princess smiled, "Don't you want to see your dear yuri crush once again? I'll wait a week for your response, now good bye."

"You can't help her Lady Kurosawa! She's evil!"

"She is evil, I'll have to think about this…."

"Lady Kurosawa what is there to think about? She tried to destroy Konahagakure! Why the hell would you even _consider_ helping that evil woman in any—"

Minamo raised her hand, silencing the woman. "This isn't the time. We'll talk later."

"Huff. Well I finally popped that water balloon, huff."

"Excellent," said Ken, "you've really been doing well Tomo. I have to say that I'm quite impressed, this jutsu is very, very difficult. There aren't many who can learn to use these jutsu so quickly." _And how can one of them be a punk kid?_ Ken had never seen anything quite like it.

"Cool, huff, so what now?"

"Well Tomo, now you need to make this rubber ball blow up."

"Are you a pyro?"

Ken smiled, an irritated, happy smile. "Not quite, have you made any flames with this jutsu?"

"So then how long will this take me?"

"Hopefully not too long, we still need to find Kurosawa after all."

Tomo frowned as she struggled to blow up the small rubber toy. Suddenly inspiration struck the girl and she managed to destroy the ball in a spectacular way. Ken was impressed with the speed at which she had been progressing. With any luck the girl would master the rasengan quickly, even though that sounded impossible.

"You can complete the last step on our way to where I think Kurosawa is. She's only going to be there for a little while so we better get a move on."

"But what do I need to do now?"

"Now you need to make a sphere of chakra and keep it concentrated. That's what gives the rasengan its destructive power. Your new job to is keep a sphere of chakra contained within this balloon, that means you absolutely _cannot_ pop it." Ken handed Tomo the toy. She nodded and the two of them set off.


End file.
